The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must

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Since the beginning of human history, Mars has been an alluring dream—the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit. But all that changed when leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct. When it was first published in 1996, The Case for Mars became an instant classic, lauded widely for its game-changing perspective by those who would see the Ame…

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Robert Zubrin Comments on Elon Musk’s Plans for Mars(r/spacex)

With respect to your case for the Moon over Mars. In the book “The Case for Mars” Robert Zubrin wrote the following paragraph as a conclusion to an entire chapter on why going to the Moon as a step on the way to Mars makes no sense:

> However, what needs to be clearly understood is that a lunar base is neither necessary nor desirable as an asset to support piloted missions to Mars. With respect to the path to Mars, it is a fatal siren, a diversion into a dead end. The late NASA administrator Thomas O. Paine knew all about this trap. In one of the last speeches of his life he put it this way: “As Napoleon Bonaparte once said explaining his winning strategy for war with Austria: ‘If you want to take Vienna, take Vienna!’ Well, if you want to go to Mars, go to Mars!” Well said, Tom. On to Mars.

> Per my recent comments, I am increasingly concerned about SpaceX going public before the Mars transport system is in place. Creating the technology needed to establish life on Mars is and always has been the fundamental goal of SpaceX. If being a public company diminishes that likelihood, then we should not do so until Mars is secure.

So the bottom line is this: there is no point going to the moon if Mars is your goal, Musk (and SpaceX) really really want to go to Mars. In my mind this move makes complete sense.

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